EXPLAINER: Europe struggles to cope with Russia gas shutoffs

By DAVID McHUGH
AP Business Writer

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe is struggling to contain an energy crisis as Russia throttles back supplies of natural gas. European officials say it’s a pressure game over their support for Ukraine after Russia’s invasion. The job now is to conserve energy, line up new supplies, and cushion the impact on the poor who can’t afford to pay increasingly higher utility bills. Europe has made some progress in finding new gas supplies by ship and in filling underground gas storage to get through the winter heating season. The goal is to avoid rolling blackouts or widespread shutdowns of energy-intensive industries as the weather gets colder.